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FAIR ROSAMOND 



A 



Dream of Fair Women 



BY 



ALFRED TENNYSON 



ILLUSTRATED 



/■/ 




_WASH^ 

BOSTON 
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 

1880 



ON 



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James R. Osgood and Company. 




All A'/;-Z-/- A'.'VV7V,/ 







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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



[Dravs-n and engraved under the supervision of A. V. S. Anthony.] 



DRAWN BV 



FAIR ROSAMOND Mary Hallock Foote . . Frontispiece. 

Ornamental Heading F. T.Merrill ii 

Chaucer and the Elizabethan Poets F. T. Merrill 13 

"Swollen clouds" T. Moran 15 

"Dislodging pinnacle and parapet" . W. L. Sheppard 19 

"High shrine-doors" F. B. Schell 21 

" Crisp foam-flakes scud along the 

level sand " T. Moran 23 

"A cavalier" W. L. Sheppard 25 

" Elm-tree boles " T. Morati 29 

"Growths of jasmine" G.Perkins 31 

" The red anemone " E. H. Garrett 33 

Violets E- ^- Garrett 35 

HELEN OF TROY J- M. Cameron 37 



IPHIGENIA IV. H. Lozv . 

"The high masts flicker'd" . . . . A. Fredericks 

" As thunder-drops fall on a sleep- 
ing sea " G. Perkins . 

"One sitting on a crimson scarf 

UNROLl'd " A. Fredericks 



41 

45 

47 
49 



List of Illustrations. 



CLEOPATRA A. Fredericks 

Cleopatra's Barge F. B. Schell . 

Mark Antony A. Fredericks 



51 

55 
57 



Lying robed and crowned" 



A. Fredericks 61 



" The torrent brooks " Martha Ritchie Simpsoji 

" The balmy moon " J- W. Kix .... 

" Broad sunshine "• F. B. Schell .... 

JEPHTHA'S daughter . . . . F. Dielman .... 

" Mizpeh's towered gate " A. C. Warren . . . 

Garden Plants PV. If. Gibson . . . 

"Grape-loaded vines that glow 

Beneath the battled tower" 
" Saw God divide the night "... 
" The sombre boskage of the wood 
"White dawn's creeping beams" . 



65 
67 
69 

71 
11 

75 



y. F. Micrphy 79 

A. R. Wand 81 

y. A. Brown 85 

F. Hopkinson Smith 89 



MARGARET MORE W. L. Sluppard 91 

French Castle A. R. Wand 93 

JOAN OF ARC C. S. Reinhart 95 

Springtime y- A. Brmun 97 

QUEEN ELEANOR Mary Hallock Foote 99 

"Wondrous track of dreams" . . . A. Fredericks loi 

Tail-piece F. G. Merrill 103 




A DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN. 



A DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN. 

I READ, before my eyelids dropt their shade, 
" The Legend of Good Women'' long ago 

Sung by the morning star of song, who made 
His music heard below; 

Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath 
Preluded those melodious bursts, that fill 

The spacious times of great Elizabeth 
With sounds that echo still. 




CHAUCER AND THE ELIZABETHAN POETS. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



15 



And, for a while, the knowledge of his art 
Held me above the subject, as strong gales 

Hold swollen clouds from raining, tho' my heart, 
Brimful of those wild tales, 




a " ^-o— s!^,. 




A Dream of Fair Women. 17 

Charged both mine eyes with tears. In every land 

I saw, wherever light illumineth, 
Beauty and anguish walking hand in hand 

The downward slope to death. 

Those far-renowned brides of ancient song 
Peopled the hollow dark, like burning stars, 

And I heard sounds of insult, shame, and wrong, 
And trumpets blown for wars ; 

And clattering flints batter'd with clanging hoofs : 
And I saw crowds in column'd sanctuaries ; 

And forms that pass'd at windows and on roofs 
Of marble palaces ; 

Corpses across the threshold ; heroes tall 
Dislodging pinnacle and parapet 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



19 




;#' 




Upon the tortoise creeping to the wall 
Lances in ambush set; 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



21 



And high shrine-doors burst thro' with heated blasts 
That run before the fluttering tongues of fire ; 

White surf wind-scatter'd over sails and masts, 
And ever climbing his/her: 






^ 

•v 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



23 



Squadrons and squares of men in brazen plates, 
Scaffolds, still sheets of water, divers woes, 

Ranges of glimmering vaults with iron grates. 
And hush'd seraglios. 

So shape chased shape as swift as, when to land 
Bluster the winds and tides the self-same way, 

Crisp foam-flakes scud along the level sand, 
Torn from the fringe of spray. 




A Dream of Fair Women. 



25 



I started once, or seem'd to start in pain, 

Resolved on noble things, and strove to speak, 

As when a great thought strikes along the brain, 
And flushes all the cheek. 

And once my arm was lifted to hew down 
A cavalier from off his saddle-bow, 




A Dj'eain of Fair Women. 27 

That bore a lady from a leaguer'd town; 
And then, I know not how, 

All those sharp fancies, by down-lapsing thought 
Stream'd onward, lost their edges, and did creep 

RoU'd on each other, rounded, smooth'd, and brought 
Into the gulfs of sleep. 

At last methought that I had wander'd far 
In an old wood: fresh-wash'd in coolest dew, 

The maiden splendors of the morning star 
Shook in the steadfast blue. 

Enormous elmtree-boles did stoop and lean 

Upon the dusky brushwood underneath 
Their broad curved branches, fledged with clearest green. 

New from its silken sheath. 



A Di''eam of Fair Women. 



29 




The dim red morn had died, her journey done, 
And with dead lips smiled at the twilight plain, 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



31 



Half-faH'n across the threshold of the sun, — 



Never to rise asain 






There was no motion in the dumb dead air, 
Not any song of bird or sound of rill , 

Gross darkness of the inner sepulchre 
Is not so deadly still 




A Dream of Fair Women. 



33 



As that wide forest. Growths of jasmine turn'd 
Their humid arms festooning tree to tree, 

And at the root thro' lush green grasses burn'd 
The red anemone. 



ilT«il"i!^ 







I knew the flowers, I knew the leaves, I knew 
The tearful glimmer of the languid dawn 

On those long, rank, dark wood-walks drench'd in dew, 
Leading from lawn to lawn. 



A Drea77t of Fair Women. 



35 




The smell of violets, hidden in the green, 
Pour'd back into my empty soul and frame 

The times when I remember to have been 
Joyful and free from blame. 



And from within me a clear under-tone 

Thrill'd thro' mine ears in that unblissful clime, 

" Pass freely thro' : the wood is all thine own. 
Until the end of time." 




HELEN OF TROY. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 

At length I saw a lady within call, , 

Stiller than chisell'd marble, standing there; 

A daughter of the gods, divinely tall. 
And most divinely fair. 

Her loveliness with shame and with surprise 

Froze my swift speech : she turning on my face 

The star-like sorrows of immortal eyes, 
Spoke slowly in her place. 

"I had great beauty: ask thou not my name: 
No one can be more wise than destiny. 

Many drew swords and died. Where'er I came 
I brought calamity." 

"No marvel, sovereign lady: in fair field 
Myself for such a face had boldly died," 




IPHIGENIA. 



A Dream of Fair Women. i 

I answer'd free ; and turning I appeal'd 
To one that stood beside. 

But she, with sick and scornful looks averse, 
To her full height her stately stature draws ; 

"My youth," she said, "was blasted with a curse: 
This woman was the cause. 

" I was cut off from hope in that sad place, 

Which yet to name my spirit loathes and fears: 

My father held his hand upon his face ; 
I, blinded with my tears, 

"Still strove to speak: my voice was thick with sighs 
As in a dream. Dimly I could descry 

The stern black-bearded kings with wolfish eyes, 
Waiting to see me die. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



45 




"The high masts flicker'd as they lay afloat; 

The crowds, the temples, waver'd, and the shore; 
The bright death quiver'd at the victim's throat; 

Touch'd ; and I knew no more." 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



47 



Whereto the other with a downward brow: 

" I would the white cold heavy-plunging foam, 

Whirl'd by the wind, had roU'd me deep below. 
Then when I left my home." 

Her slow full words sank thro' the silence drear, 
As thunder-drops fall on a sleeping sea: 

Sudden I heard a voice that cried, " Come here, 
That I may look on thee." 




A Dream of Fair Women. 



49 



I turning saw, throned on a flowery rise, 
One sitting on a crimson scarf unroli'd; 




A queen, with swarthy cheeks and bold black eyes, 
Brow-bound with burning gold. 



I 



V 



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CLEOPATRA. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 53 

She, flashing forth a haughty smile, began: 
" I govern'd men by change, and so I sway'd 

All moods. 'T is long since I have seen a man. 
Once, like the moon, I made 

" The ever-shifting currents of the blood 

According to my humor ebb and flow. 
I have no men to govern in this wood : 

That makes my only woe. 

"Nay — yet it chafes me that I could not bend 
One will ; nor tame and tutor with mine eye 

That dull cold-blooded Caesar. Prythee, friend. 
Where is Mark Antony? 

" The man, my lover, with whom I rode sublime 
On Fortune's neck : we sat as God by God : 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



55 




The Nilus would have risen before his time 
And flooded at our nod. 



" We drank the Libyan sun to sleep, and lit 
Lamps which outburn'd Canopus. O my life 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



57 



In Egypt! O the dalliance and the wit, 
The flattery and the strife, 



i 1 ^^1 M lU Hit. 




A Dream of Fair Women. 59 

" And the wild kiss, when fresh from war's alarms, 

My Hercules, my Roman Antony, 
My mailed Bacchus leapt into my arms, 

Contented there to die ! 

" And there he died : and when I heard my name 
Sigh'd forth with life I would not brook my fear 

Of the other: with a worm I balk'd his fame. 
What else was left? look here!" 

(With that she tore her robe apart, and half 
The polish'd argent of her breast to sight 

Laid bare. Thereto she pointed with a laugh, 
Showing the aspic's bite.) 

" I died a Queen. The Roman soldier found 
Me lying dead, my crown about my brows, 



A Drea?n of Fair Women. 



6i 




A name forever ! — lying robed and crown'd, 
Worthy a Roman spouse." 



Her warbling voice, a lyre of widest range 

Struck by all passion, did fall down and glance 

From tone to tone, and glided thro' all change 
Of liveliest utterance. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 63 

When she made pause I knew not for dehght; 

Because with sudden motion from the ground 
She raised her piercing orbs, and fill'd with Hght 

The interval of sound. 

Still with their fires Love tipt his keenest darts ; 

As once they drew into two burning rings 
All beams of Love, melting the mighty hearts 

Of captains and of kings. 

Slowly my sense undazzled. Then I heard 
A noise of some one coming thro' the lawn, 

And singing clearer than the crested bird, 
That claps his wings at dawn. 

" The torrent brooks of hallow'd Israel 

From craggy hollows pouring, late and soon, 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



65 




Sound all night long, in falling thro' the dell, 
Far-heard beneath the moon. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



67 



"The balmy moon of blessed Israel 

Floods all the deep-blue gloom with beams divine 




All night the splinter'd crags that wall the dell 
With spires of silver shine." 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



69 



As one that museth where broad sunshine laves 
The lawn by some cathedral, thro' the door 




Hearing the holy organ rolling waves 
Of sound on roof and floor 




JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



Th 



Within, and anthem sung, is charm'd and tied 
To where he stands, — so stood I, when that flow 

Of music left the Hps of her that died 
To save her father's vow; 

The daughter of the warrior Gileadite, 
A maiden pure ; as when she went along 




A Dream of Fair Womeji. 



75 



From Mizpeh's tower'd gate with welcome light, 
With timbrel and with song. 

My words leapt forth : " Heaven heads the count of crimes 
With that wild oath." She render'd answer high : 

" Not so, nor once alone ; a thousand times 
I would be born and die. 




i 



A Dream of Fair Women. 77 

" Single I grew, like some green plant, whose root 
Creeps to the garden water-pipes beneath. 

Feeding the flower; but ere my flower to fruit 
Changed, I was ripe for death. 

"My God, my land, my father, — these did move 
Me from my bliss of life, that Nature gave, 

Lower'd softly with a threefold cord of love 
Down to a silent grave. 

"And I went mourning, 'No fair Hebrew boy 
Shall smile away my maiden blame among 

The Hebrew mothers ' —emptied of all joy. 
Leaving the dance and song, 

" Leaving the olive-gardens far below, 

Leaving the promise of my bridal bower, 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



79 



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The valleys of grape-loaded vines that glow 
Beneath the battled tower. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 

" The light white cloud swam over us. Anon 
We heard the lion roaring from his den; 

We saw the large white stars rise one by one, 
Or, from the darken'd glen, 

" Saw God divide the night with flying flame. 
And thunder on the everlasting hills. 




A Dream of Fair Women. 83 

I heard Him, for He spake, and grief became 
A solemn scorn of ills. 

" When the next moon was roll'd into the sky. 
Strength came to me that equall'd my desire. 

How beautiful a thing it was to die 
For God and for my sire ! 

" It comforts me in this one thought to dwell. 
That I subdued me to my father's will ; 

Because the kiss he gave me, ere I fell, 
Sweetens the spirit still. 

" Moreover it is written that my race 

Hew'd Ammon, hip and thigh, from Aroer 

On Arnon unto Minneth." Here her face 
Glow'd as I look'd at her. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



85 



She lock'd her Hps: she left me where I stood: 
" Glory to God," she sang, and past afar, 




Thridding the sombre boskage of the wood, 
Toward the morning-star. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 87 

Losing her carol I stood pensively, 

As one that from a casement leans his head, 

When midnight bells cease ringing suddenly, 
And the old year is dead. 

" Alas ! alas ! " a low voice, full of care, 

Murmur'd beside me : " Turn and look on me : 

I am that Rosamond, whom men call fair. 
If what I was I be. 

"Would I had been some maiden coarse and poor! 

O me, that I should ever see the light! 
Those dragon eyes of anger'd Eleanor 

Do hunt me, day and night." 

She ceased in tears, fallen from hope and trust: 
To whom the Egyptian : " O, you tamely died ! 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



89 



You should have clung to Fulvia's waist and thrust 



The dagger thro' her side." 




With that sharp sound the white dawn's creeping beams, 
Stol'n to my brain, dissolved the mystery 




MARGARET MORE. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



93 



Of folded sleep. The captain of my dreams 
Ruled in the eastern sky. 

Morn broaden'd on the borders of the dark, 
Ere I saw her, who clasp'd in her last trance 

Her murder'd father's head, or Joan of Arc, 
A light of ancient France ; 





JOAN OF ARC. 



A Dream of Fair Women. 



97 



Or her, who knew that Love can vanquish Death, 
Who kneehng, with one arm about her king. 

Drew forth the poison with her balmy breath, 
Sweet as new buds in Spring. 




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A Dream of Fair Women. 



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No memory labors longer from the deep 

Gold-mines of thought to lift the hidden ore 

That glimpses, moving up, than I from sleep 
To gather and tell o'er 

Each little sound and sight. With what dull pain 
Compass'd, how eagerly I sought to strike 

Into that wondrous track of dreams again 1 
But no two dreams are like. 




A Dream of Fair Women. 



103 



As when a soul laments, which hath been blest, 
Desiring what is mingled with past years. 

In yearnings that can never be exprest 
By signs or groans or tears ; 

Because all words, tho' cull'd with choicest art, 
Failing to give the bitter of the sweet, 

Wither beneath the palate, and the heart 
Faints, faded by its heat. 




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